According to a BBC report, Canada is making plans to ship 800 vials of its Ebola vaccine to WHO. The vaccine which has been tested on animals can prevent Ebola infection in them. But it is yet to be tested on humans. Trials will begin in US this week and WHO will conduct further tests in Europe and Africa.
The recent outbreak is the largest in history. It has affected more than 10,000 humans killing more than 4,500 in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, US, Spain and Nigeria. As at today, there is no known cure for this disease only experimental drugs.
Dr Gregory Taylor, the chief public health officer of Canada, said: “This vaccine, the product of many years of scientific research and innovation, could be an important tool in curbing the outbreak.
“We will continue to work closely with the WHO to address some of the ethical and logistical issues around using this experimental vaccine in the fight against Ebola.”
The Canadian vaccine is being develop by the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory. it is a combination of fragments of Ebola virus with non-fatal virus which will be enough to trigger the immune system to produce antibodies.
Clinical trials have started at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in the US but results are not expected until December 2014
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